Mieczyslaw Fogg
Encyclopedia
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
- September 3, 1990, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
), was a very popular Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
singer of the twentieth century. His popularity started well before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and continued well into the 1980s. He had a characteristic way of staying very serious yet slightly emotional on stage when singing. He can be compared to French Tino Rossi
Tino Rossi
Tino Rossi was a singer and film actor.Born Constantino Rossi in Ajaccio, Corsica, France, he became a tenor of French cabaret and one of the great romantic idols of his time. Gifted with an operatic voice, a "Latin Lover" persona made him a movie star as well...
in style. He had a lyric baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
voice.
Mieczysław Fogiel was born May 30, 1901 in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, then a province guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
capital in Imperial Russia. He spent his childhood there and, after graduating from a local gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in 1922, he started working as a railway worker. About that time he also joined the choir of the St. Anne's Church
St. Anne's Church, Warsaw
St. Anne's Church is a church in the historic center of Warsaw, Poland, adjacent to the Castle Square, at Krakowskie Przedmieście 68. It is one of Poland's most notable churches with a Neoclassical facade. The church ranks among Warsaw's oldest buildings. Over time, it has seen many...
. There his friend, Ludwik Sempoliński, made him join the classes of music organized by Jan Łysakowski, Eugeniusz Mossakowski, Wacław Brzeziński, Ignacy Dygas and many other notable Polish musicians of the epoch. Initially a hobbyist, in 1928 he met Władysław Daniłowski Dan, who chose him as a soloist for his newly formed Dan's Choir. The choir became extremely popular the following year when Jerzy Petersburski
Jerzy Petersburski
Jerzy Petersburski was a Polish pianist and composer of popular music, renowned mostly for his Tangos, some of which were milestones in popularization of the musical genre in Poland and are still widely known today, more than half a century after their creation.Jerzy Petersburski was born April...
's song Tango Milonga became an international hit. This and other tangos
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
and romances performed by the choir in the famous Qui pro Quo theatre led Fogiel to become one of the most popular Polish singers. After 1932 Fogiel, under a new pseudonym of Fogg, toured a number of countries, including Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, USSR, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the group toured 31 states.
His popularity was increased by the fact that Fogg was keen on languages and was able to sing in local languages of the countries he toured. He also appeared in a number of duos with other popular artists of the time, including Hanka Ordonówna, Stefcia Górska, Zula Pogorzelska and Adolf Dymsza. He also appeared in 11 films. After the Dana Choir was disbanded in 1938 Fogg started a solo career. The same year he was chosen as the most popular Polish singer by the Polish Radio. He toured the country with a trio composed of himself, Mira Zimińska
Mira Ziminska
Mira Zimińska or Maria Zimińska-Sygietyńska was a Polish theater actor and film director. She was a founder and long-time director of the Mazowsze folk group....
and Tadeusz Sygietyński. Among the authors of his songs was also Marian Hemar
Marian Hemar
Marian Hemar , born Jan Maria Hescheles, also Jan Mariański , Marian Wallenrod, was a Polish Jewish poet, journalist, playwright, comedy writer, and songwriter: he himself said that before the outbreak of World War II he had written 1200 songs including hits like Może kiedyś innym razem and Upić...
.
After the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Fogg remained in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, where he joined the underground Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
. He gave concerts in the few cafes available to Poles under German occupation. During the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
he gave countless concerts both on the barricades, in hospitals and in the bomb shelters beneath the city. He was a soldier also and member of I Batalion Szturmowy Odwet. For his efforts to keep high the morale of the soldiers and civilians of the fighting city he was awarded with some of the highest Polish decorations.
After the war, in 1945 he opened up his own cafe in the ruins of Warsaw. The cafe, located at Marszałkowska 119 Street, was the first music theatre opened after the war in the destroyed city and served as one of the very few centres of culture. However, the following year it was nationalized by the new communist authorities of Poland and closed soon afterwards. Fogg continued to give hundreds of concerts in all parts of Poland and also headed his private music record firm Fogg Records, which shared the fate of Fogg's cafe in 1951. His popularity as a singer remained high and in 1958 he was again chosen the most popular Polish singer by the audience of the Polish Radio - 20 years after he was given the same title for the first time.
He continued to give concerts almost until his death in 1990. Throughout his 60-years long career he gave more than 16,000 of them in all countries of Europe, Brasil, Israel, Ceylon, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US. His everlasting popularity led to the creation of a number of anecdotes. In one of them, the Polish archaeologists supposedly discovered an Egyptian mummy. After they unfolded it, they were surprised by the mummy asking a short question: "Is Fogg still giving concerts?"
Mieczysław Fogg died in Warsaw on September 3, 1990. He is buried at the Bródno Cemetery
Bródno Cemetery
Bródno Cemetery is an old cemetery in the Targówek district, in the eastern part of Warsaw, Poland. Occupying an area of , it is the largest cemetery in Warsaw...
in Warsaw.
External links
- Fogg's rendition of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" (Polish) Retrieved 14 February 2008.